^^ ?'^97 




THE 



Language and Literature 



SHAKESPEARE. 



BEAD BEFOBE THE 



North America St. George's Union, 



AT 



CHICAGO, AUGUST, 1884, _ 

IN AOOOEDANOB WITH THE QUESTION EAISED AT THE CONVENTION, 

■ Holo the Literature of Shakespeare may ie further popularized as the best means 
of perpetuating mgoi-ous English speech and characteristics,'''' 



J. H. 81DDONS, 

AUTHOR OF THE " SHAKESPBAKIAN EEFEBEE AND ENOirCI>OP.ffi;DIA," AC, AC. 



WASHINGTON, D. 0. 
GIBSON BEOTHERS, PEINTEES. 

1884. 






THE 

LANGUAGE AND LITERATURE OF SHAKESPEARE. 



AMONG the various purposes to which the several St. George's Socie- 
ties devote their energies and their benevolence, few, if any, can 
exceed in value the object now proposed to their consideration, in refer- 
ence to the diffusion of a taste for the insphing literature of Shake- 
speare. In designing the perpetuation of vigorous English speech and 
characteristics "7'Ae North America /St. George's Union'''' suggests, per- 
haps not unconsciously, the promotion of the interests of virtue in their 
broadest significance, for in no works, not avowedly and exclusively 
"religious," are purer Christian and moral lessons inculcated than in 
the pages of immortal William Shakespeare. 

Considering the rapid, the much too rapid, transfer of American youth 
from the school-room or the college to the scenes of business operations 
or special professional preparation, and the subsequent application of 
the thoughts and the time of citizens to what are facetiously termed the 
" politics " of the hour, but which, in truth, are simply the adoption of 
the principles of one of the parties which severally divide and excite the 
nation, it is not surprising that very little attention is bestowed on the 
cultivation of general literature. 

That the desire, at least, exists in America for the possession of a 
greater familiarity with the productions of the illustrious masters and 
disseminators of pure and noble thoughts, and their gracious forms of 
expression, has often been manifested, but never more conspicuously 
than in the appeal for guidance in that flowery path to Lord Chief- 
Justice Coleridge, of the English Bench, who recently visited this conti- 
nent. That highly accomplished jurist and litterateur, himself the 
descendant of a distinguished poet, at once responded to the wise and 
pleasing invitation, and in his eloquent and exhaustive address to one 
of the colleges said, emphatically, as his " first counsel :" 

" Outside of your studies let me earnestly recommend to you that you learn b 



heart such passages as strike you as great or beautiful in the best poetry or prose. 
FiEST, first always, SHAKESPEARE, an inexhaustible storehouse of wisdom, in- 
struction, and exquisite diction." 

We need travel no further in the catalogue of the potent instructors 
who have drawn their inspiration from the contemplation of the grandest 
works of nature, and their language from the " well of pure English un- 
detiled." Let us take our stand on Shakespeare alone — '■'■Jirst, and 
ahcays, Shakespeare." 

The scenes or locations of the dramas of the mighty Bard are rather 
restricted numerically.. They are for the most part confined to Italy 
England, Ancient Greece, and Rome ; and in one or two instances only, 
for a brief term, they are supposed to occur in Cyprus and Egypt. Two 
are placed in France, oue in Denmark, and another in Scotland ; none 
in Spain, Germany, Holland, Belgium, Switzerland, or Russia. Those 
plays the scenes of which are laid in Italy happily exemplify the strong 
passions of the people. Love, jealousy, treachery, gaiety, adventure, 
and intrigue constitute the basis of the greater number of the plots. 
The language is poetical, fervid, desc'rijDtive, imaginative, and occasion- 
ally philosophical, but seldom masculine and robust. The Greek and 
Roman plaj'S abound with heroics, urgent apostrophes, eloquent denun- 
ciations, patriotic appeals, and numerous touches of character, all more 
or less illustrative of the warlike proclivities, natural dispositions, and 
political conditions of the people at different epochs. But few present 
examples of the loftier virtues. The world had not, at the supposed 
dates, experienced the chastening and ennobling influences of Chris- 
tianity. 

We turn, then, to the historical and other plays, the events of which 
are laid in England, for specimens of really "vigorous speech," and in 
these we find abundant proofs of the reflection of character upon 
language. 

Taking them in chronological order, we are first presented with the 
bold harangues of the First Citizen of Angiers to the -Kings of Eng- 
land and France and the Duke of A ustria, {King John, Act II, 
Scene I.) It is at once a charmingly effective poetical sketch of a 
heroic purpose and a graceful tribute to the beauty and worth of the 
Spanish princess, Blanche. In the same scene (Act II, Scene I) the 
gallant bastard, Faxdconhridge, discourses volubly of "Commodity" — 
a homily that is a treasure of moral instruction and remarkable for a 
fine flow of language. And when we arrive at the Tbird Act of the 
same play we find King John, in a spirited defiance, prompted by a 
^-ourageous English heart, asserting his contempt for the Papal threat 



of excommunication conveyed through the nuncio, Cardinal Pandulph. 
The Hnes begin : 

" Thou canst not, Cardinal, devise a name 
So slight, unworthy, and ridiculous 
To charge me to an answer, as the Pope," &c. 

That speech and the one that follows it, "redolent of plain cannon 
fire," are striking examples of "vigorous English," begotten of confi- 
dence and intrepidity. 

Passing to Richard II, we are greeted with some exquisite lines, 
designed to soften the asperity of banishment, (Act I, Scene III,) and 
farther onwards there occurs a speech in praise of England, written in 
the 17th century, supposed to be spoken in the 14th, and happily remains 
a beautiful picture in the closing years of the 19th century. It should 
be studied and promulgated, for besides that it maintains the impreg- 
nable position of the " tight little island," it contains several whole- 
some proverbs, melodiously expressed. John of Gaunt, " a prophet new 
inspired,^'' is dying. Uttering his last words, which he believes may 
" enforce attention," as is often the case with the tongues of dying men, 
he calls England " the earth of majesty, the seat of Mars," — 

' ' A fortress built by Nature for herself 
Against infection and the hand of war." 

And, further, he terms the natives " a happy breed of men," and the 
nation " a dear, dear land," — 

"Dear for her reputation through the world." 

Every true-born Englishman must tlakJs; with honest pride when he 
reads these phrases, and feels that he can vouch for their application at 
the present date. 

Although the " divine right " of Kings has long been an exploded 
theory in England, the boldness of tone suggested by a belief in the 
strength of his position as " the Lord's anointed" imparts a lively in- 
terest to the speech of Richard in Act III, Scene II, when, returning 
from Ireland, he finds Bolingbroke advancing to attempt the usurpation 
of the throne. In a different key, but well-worthy of study and repeti- 
tion, are the speeches of the King in the third scene of the same Act. 

The scorching vehemence with which Hotspur (First Part of Henry 
IV) defends Mortimer is a fine instance, though a brief one, of the 
energy that can be thrown into a few lines, and this power is increased 
in the speeches of the same impetuous personage throughout the scene. 
They are replete with the fire of angry passion. Of a different quality, 
but presenting useful lessons in English blank verse, is the interview of 



4 

Henry JFaud his son, "the mad-cap Prince of Wales,'" whom the 
former — while tracing the steps of his own prosperous career — is rebuk- 
ing for his wanton mode of hfe. Every Hne in the interview commands 
the attention of a dihgent student of the nervous language of Shake- 
speare. Moreover, it comprehends an interesting delineation of the 
history of the time. Of a similar character in all respects is the scene 
(Act IV, Scene IV) in which Hotspur places before Sir Walter Blunt 
an expose of the reasons for his hostility — and that of his family — to 
the reigning sovereign, and the later scene, (Act V, Scene I,) wherein 
the same catalogue of personal wrongs is rehearsed by the JEarl of 
Worcester. 

In the opening dialogue in the Second Part of Henry IV Sb pathetic 
and thoroughly poetical description is given of the manner of Hotspur'' s 
death. The narrative itself and the '• strained passion " of the Earl of 
Northumberland, Percy's father, are forcible incidents, worthy of perusal 
and remembrance. Colley Gibber has transferred a very large portion 
of the interview between the sorrowing Earl and the messenger in his 
adaptation of Richard III to the stage, putting the language of North- 
umberland into the mouth of Henry VI Lady Percfs portraiture of 
her deceased husband, Hotspur, (Act II,) " a miracle of men," is a touch- 
ing tribute, drawn by the loving hand of an inconsolable widow. It 
completes the details of Hotspur's character, which otherwise could only 
have been derived from the words put into his mouth by Shakesj)eare. 
The character of the Prince of Wales, afterwards Henry V, receives a 
partial but a graphic outline in the speech of the King, {Henry IV,) 
addressed to Prince Clarence. It is a lesson in fraternal affection that 
cannot escape admiration. And in the final interview of the King and 
Prince of Wales we are presented with a charming sequel to the pre- 
vious colloquy. It is full of poetry, dashed with historical semblance. 

We now reach the play of Henry V, and here are to be found phrases 
lighted with flaming eloquence which, even in closet perusal, are calcu- 
lated to stir the blood and involuntai'ily stiffen the sinews. The reader 
seems to stand like a dog of war "upon the slip," ready to obey the cry 
of "havoc!" 

Passing over the oration of the Archbishop of Canterbury, touching 
the Salique law, and the graceful analogy between the action of the bees 
and the due government of a country, in forcible illustration of the law 
of obedience, (Act I, Scene II,) we find the intrepid warrior-king sending 
his sturdy defiance to the Dauphin of France, and soon afterwards we 
are with him before the battered walls of Harfleui". He has previously 
sent the Duhe of Exeter as envoy to the French court to announce his 



visit and its hostile purport ; and the tone of the DuJce, less resembling 
diplomatic courtesy than an old time military cartel, is a prelude to the 
animated harangue with which the soldiers are urged " once more unto 
the breach." 

Not less spirited is the apostrophe addressed to the Earl of West- 
moreland, deprecating the wish for " more men from England " on the 
eve of the signal victory of Agincourt. On each recurrence of "St. 
Crispin's day " the heroes of that famous battle should be remembered 
in "flowing cups," the temperance advocates notwithstanding. 

To cap the climax of downright assertions of English determination 
of character, Henry Y^s courtship of the Princess Katharine of France 
may fairly be cited. It is too blunt to be poetical, but it is downright 
prose, deserving of imitation in every honest cause. The distinction 
between bluff impertinence and courteous declaration is therein skilfully 
drawn. 

There are numerous sentences in Henry VI, VIII, Richard III, 
King Lear, and Cymbeline of the true English ring, but it is needless 
to enumerate them in this paper. Its object is simply to announce the 
existence of lofty sentiment and incomparable "English" in support of 
the arguments on behalf of the adoption of Shakespeare as a key to the 
best method of sustituting vigorous speech for the languid and corrupt- 
ing utterances too prevalent on the American continent. But it is not 
e&sy to make the horse drink, though you may lead him to the water. 
The youth of the realm must be tempted in a more effectual form than 
any of those which now exist. The blank verse, the inverted phrase, 
the obsolete words, the characteristic scenes placed in nations unlike 
America in many respects, and the social conditions which find no joar- 
allel in the western hemisphere, startle the beginner. He shrinks from 
the attempt to overcome difficulties which he encounters on the very 
threshold. He must be furnished with a special guide. There is noth- 
ing seductive in the majority of the (so called) Headers used as text- 
books in the schools. They are pitiful evidences of the limited extent 
of editorial research or literary taste and attainment. The greater num- 
ber contain very few quotations from Shakespeare, and those few are 
nearly all of the same nature, derived from the same plays ; in fact, the 
selections, in a great degree, seem to be copies of each other. And even 
the pieces ordinarily chosen are almost unintelligible because of the ab- 
sence of any prefatory sketch of their cause and intention. Thus, Car- 
dinal Wolsey's farewell to all his greatness is to be found in at least 
one-half of the " Readers," but not one youth in fifty has read a suffi- 
ciency of English history or of Wolsey^s biography to be aware of the 



quality of the departed greatness which the Right Reverend Cardinal is 
lamenting. JEx pede Herculem was not a bad guide to the computation 
of the height of a statue of the God of Strength, but the man who of- 
fered a brick to the bidders for a palace as a specimen of the grandeur 
of the edifice obtained no credit from intending purchasers. The sam- 
ple was unsatisfactory. So of Shakespearian quotations. The limited 
and badly-chosen parts of scenes convey but a feeble idea of the beauty, 
the majesty, the moral and intellectual wealth of the unapproachable 
poet. 

The great desideratum in the accomplishment of the exalted object of 
the "North America St. George's Union" is a volume that shall em- 
brace many selections from the historical plays of Shakespeare to which 
I have pointedly referred, each excerption being introduced by a con- 
densed narrative or " argument " descriptive of the motives of the 
speaker. In this simple form an acquaintance with fragments, at least, 
of English history would be mastered, and a temptation ofi'ered to ac- 
quire a more familiar knowledge of that magnificent record. The Rev. 
Dr. Croly, one of the most accomplished English scholars, has said "the 
history of his own country ought to be the study of every man, but the 
history of England should be the study of all men." The power of a 
National will, forcing its way through all obstacles, has never been so 
gracefully described as in English annals. But the American common 
schools rarely include this invaluable guide in the syllabus of studies 
required of both sexes. It is the more to be regretted, for the history 
of England, to the extent reached in the plays of Shakespeare, has at 
least the additional advantage of being addressed to the ear in poetry — 
a branch of literature which, in its loftier flights, evinces that there is 
no power in the human mind which takes a wider range or ascends be- 
yond the trivialities of life with a more commanding pinion. 

As a general rule, school books offer the greatest inducement to the 
investment of the capital of publishers, because they assure a certain 
demand which, with the help of the trustees of the several schools, and 
a little Congressional lobbying, generally proves rather profitable. Now, 
it is not unlikely that a Reader — or a "Speakek," as old Enfield's "ele- 
gant extracts " used to be called— if pubhshed under the auspices of the 
" North America St. George's Union," and called 

" THE ST. GEOKGe's SHAKESPEARIAN SPEAKER," 

might be fruitful of advantage to any enterprising firm, and prove a 
material help to the promotion of "vigorous Enghsh speech." Proba- 
bly no better method of popularizing the literature of Shakespeare could, 
in my humble judgment, be adopted than the publication, at first, of 



some of its grandest and most inspiring features. The popular Mi'. P. 
T. Barnum founded his celebrity and his fortune (of which he seems to 
be making- an honorable use) on a profound faith in the eloquence of 
priater\^ ink Many great men have cherished a theory of success 
which found expression in a simple phrase. "Action ! action !" was the 
dogma of Demosthenes in propounding a theory of effective oratory. 
Audace, rien que Vaudace was the sentiment of a mighty soldier. 
^'■Publication'''' is Mr. Barnum's creed, and by the latter course alone can 
our Shakespeare receive the fair treatment that will directly benefit lit- 
erature and vocal delivery. Introduced, as suggested above, by explana- 
tory paragraphs, the dramas will popularize themselves. Mr. Samuel 
Weller's happy idea, in confining himself to a moderate amount of ver- 
biage, will be realized — "the readers will wish there was more of it." 

It is further noteworthy, in considering the utility of Shakespeare as 
a disseminator of valuable knowledge and the perfection of style, how 
large a share he had, and still has, if justly appreciated, in the propaga- 
tion of Christian doctrine. 

Whatever may have been his personal failings, the light by which he 
viewed life was " the light of Christianity." The shrine, the shadow, and 
the colors of the moral world he looked upon were all caused or cast by 
the Christian sun of Righteousness. 

It were vain and futile to attempt to ascertain the religious denomiaa- 
tion Shakespeare specially favored. Perhaps he did not attach himself 
to any particular "church." He was too simple in his belief, too uni- 
versal in his love of his species, too independent of sectarianism and its 
arbitrary conditions to adopt either of the narrow systems or forms of 
worship which have rent society asunder since Martin Luther preached 
and Henry the Eighth proclaimed himself "Defender of the Faith." 
There is abundant circumstantial evidence in his treatment of certain 
Roman Catholic prelates in the historical plays that our Bard was not 
favorable to the Papacy, while there are likewise numerous proofs that 
he inclined tenderly towards orthodox Protestants. True godliness, 
under any and every garb, he reverences and eulogizes. The " good 
divine that follows his own instructions " is everywhere spoken of with 
profound respect. Christian precepts are introduced and inculcated on 
all convenient occasions, and the truths of a revealed religion are em- 
phaticallj^ pronounced. 

Indeed, in almost every play, wherever the scene is laid, excepting of 
course those which turn upon events in the histories of pagan Greece 
and Rome, the saving quality of faith in the Redeemer is distinctly 
enunciated. Nor are the pure doctrines of the Saviour of men, and 



8 

their application to the affairs of every-day life, the only marks of 
Shakespeare's appreciation of the works of God Almighty. All nature 
receives repeated expression of his homage/ He found "tongues in 
trees, books in the running brooks, sei'mons in stones, and good in 
everything." 

And the outcome of this perception of all that is surpassingly excel- 
lent in the great scheme of the Universe resolved itself, apparently, into 
a conviction of his obligation to become the champion of virtue, the ad- 
vocate of freedom of thought, and the apostle vphose peculiar duty it 
should be to enforce and encourage morality through the most pleasing 
media. While to other competent men he left the serious task of 
gravely combating vice and remonstrating v?ith folly, he seized the 
happy idea of enchanting the fancy in order to govern the heart. 

It seems superfluous to say one word more in support of the intention 
of the Union now in session to suggest the "Sweet Swan of Avon" as the 
auxiliary of all who have the courage and good sense to employ the 
English language in its most majestic form. Whether as a philologist, 
a moralist, an historian, or a poet, Shakespeare, I respectfully submit, has 
been proved an infallible monitor, "guide, philosopher, and friend," and 
to say more in eulogy of his solid worth and vast utility would be sim- 
ply painting the lily and pouring perfume on the violet. 

J. H. SIDDONS. 

Washington, D. C, 

United States of America, 

August, 1884. 



LIBRftRY OF CONGRESS 

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